Foss Maritime of Seattle has sold one of its US-flaggedocean deck barges to a Florida-based compatriot.
Marcon International ofCoupeville, Washington says the Foss 343 was renamed Marilyn Monroe following atransaction with Smith Maritime.
While the shipbroker wouldn’tshed light on the price it told clients the unit was built in 1975 under anexpansion programme in which Foss invested an estimated $10m in total.
Smith plans to use one ofits own tugs to tow the barge from the Massachusetts area to the SoutheasternUS and is said to be on the lookout for a southbound cargo.
While a number of variablesare used to calculate shipping rates observers say a tug and barge combo could costupwards of $10,000 per day or even more depending on the cargo.
They note the market for US-flaggedocean deck barges are one of the few areas of the sale-and-purchase arena that hasn’tcollapsed as demand remains high and supply is low.
The sources claim the last significantnewbuilding drive dates back to the 1980s and say many tug companies, likeSmith, have been forced to rely heavily on chartered tonnage in recent years.
When the Marilyn Monroe changes hands this Friday it won’t be the only deceased Hollywood headlinerin Smith's fleet of tug and barges.
Marcon brokered the sale ofa barge named Elvis to Smith back in 2009. While sightings may be rare the unitis believed to be working with the company to this day.
